Deriving Meaning From Service In Everything You Do

Just finished a 61 minute run in preparation for a half-marathon I’m running next month, which itself is preparation for some of the health and fitness oriented goals I’ve listed on my Top 100 Goals posting. Pretty tough run, I’m a little out of shape from a cardiovascular perspective.

I had a kind of revelation while out running though regarding the goals, so the suffering served a purpose:

The Top 100 Goals is definitely an efficient way to live and get the most out of life, but to be truly effective, goals in life must always have the characteristic of service to others in some way. That definitely will make achieving the goals more difficult, but that is the only way to truly derive meaning from structuring a life in this way.

I recalled something I started a while back but unfortunately fell away from due to lack of time. Manitoban Arvid Loewen has been on a crusade for a few years now to raise money for Mully Children’s Family, an orphanage in Kenya. In fact, just a few days ago he finished a 15,000 symbolic journey all the way from Kenya by cycling the last 333 km around the outskirts of Winnipeg. I came across Arvid’s mission near the beginning of 2007 and joined his website SpokeImpact.com in which you can pledge a certain amount of money per unit of physical activity, whether that be per hour, per kilometer, per mile, etc. At the time I pledged $0.15/km since I was running quite a bit at the time. So, I must continue my commitment to this cause.

How far did I run in that 61 minutes? While according to Google Earth I ran 7.9 miles. Since there are approximately 1.6 km in a mile, 12.64 km would be the rough equivalent. By submitting this info to SpokeImpact, I record the amount donated for this run and then submit an overall donation each quarter.

I’m realizing that no matter what you do, there is an opportunity to serve in every situation, at almost every moment. That is the way life should be lived, and that is where meaning lies for all of you suffering some sort of existential angst out there.

Just an endnote, I’m be away celebrating my first anniversary for the next couple of days and then the work on the blog begins!